story by Lily Weinacht
“I just like to see myself get better and compete at the pro level with everyone else,” says Colter Sellers, a tie-down roper in the GCPRA and PRCA Turquoise Circuit, and co-founder of Tuf Kaf Roping Dummies. “There’s no way I wouldn’t ever do rodeo.”
Colter, 24, lives in Casa Grande, Arizona, but grew up in Buffalo, Wyoming, rodeoing with his younger brother, Casey, after they saw the sport on TV. “Our parents, Dan and Vickie Sellers, helped us a bunch, and got horses and learned with us. We didn’t know anything starting out, but they were very proactive finding people to help us out. Mom used to wake us up at 6:30 AM and we’d load calves and go to the fairgrounds and rope over there.”
Keeping a constant supply of fresh roping calves wasn’t economic for the two brothers, and in 2011, with the help of their parents, they built a dummy that fit their needs exactly. Word of their invention spread, and the dummy sales started paying for the brothers’ entry fees. “It turned out the public really liked it,” says Colter, who took over more of the business, sales, and prototyping of dummies after high school. “We’ve sent dummies to Australia, Brazil, and Sweden—it’s pretty wild. We started making the Tuf Goat, a ground tying dummy, and now we have four products that we offer. It helped pay for all our college, and it’s been a huge blessing to us. We’re always trying to make the dummies better and improve the sport of calf roping. We want to help younger kids coming up and other guys with getting faster times and becoming more knowledgeable.”
Professional ropers, and horse trainers, such as Paul Tierney, Tyson Durfey, Jackie Crawford, and more, use Tuf Kaf dummies, along with college rodeo teams, inlcuding Frank Phillips College and New Mexico State University, where Colter rodeoed. After he junior high and high school rodeoed for Wyoming, competing in tie-down roping, team roping, and steer wrestling, Colter college rodeoed four years and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in marketing in 2016. “I went to quite a few amateur rodeo in Texas, and we went from 90 calf ropers in the college region there to 30 calf ropers over here in the Grand Canyon Region. It’s a pretty big difference, but I liked both of them.”
Colter also entered GCPRA rodeos when they coincided with his college rodeos, then bought his card this year. “They always have a good set of calves, and they have a bunch of good guys that go to their rodeos. They’re pretty much circuit rodeos, because the same guys going to circuit rodeos are going to Grand Canyon rodeos.” One of Colter’s favorite aspects of his event is the horses and the satisfaction of competing and winning on one he’s trained. He did just that with Henry, his 8-year-old gray gelding. “I bought him as a green horse and then hauled him. I won the Tucson college rodeo on him and the Casa Grande college rodeo, and second at the Las Cruces pro rodeo. He’s the first horse I made from the bottom up, and the first horse I won a check on pro rodeoing.”
Colter often practices and hauls to rodeos with his girlfriend, Shiann Irwin, who started barrel racing in the GCPRA this season. She also breakaway ropes, and qualified for the NHSFR and CNFR. They enjoy going to football and baseball games, driving to the mountains, and exploring everything Phoenix has to offer. Along with continuing to grow the Tuf Kaf business, Colter wants to start his own car sales business. “I worked a lot in college like day work and other jobs, and I’m not afraid of work, but I like to find different ways to make money,” he explains. “My main rodeo goal is to make the GCPRA finals and the Turquoise Circuit Finals.”
